USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West, and pioneer history and general and local statistics. Volume II > Part 23
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" Well," said I, " Jabez, what do you think of this mighty machine?" " Why," he replied, " if that critter had'nt riled up so soon, a body could tell more about it; but I reckon I've got a little notion on't;" and then taking me aside, and look- ing carefully around, lest somne one should over- hear him, he " then and there " assured me in confidence, in profound secresy, that if he didn't make a wagon go by steam; before he was two years older, then he'd give up invention. I at first ridiculed the idea; but when I thought of that rat trap, and saw before me a man with sharp twinkling gray eyes, a pointed nose, and every line of his visage a channel of investigation and invention, I could not resist the conclusion, that if he really ever did attempt to meddle with hot water, we should hear more of it.
Time went on. Steamboats multiplied; but none dreamed, or if they did, they never told their dreams, of a steam wagon; for even the name of " locomotive " was then as unknown as " loco- foco." When, about a year after the declaration
" Why," says he, "that steam wagon I tell'd you about a spell ago; but," added he, "it has pretty nigh starved me out;" and sure enough, he did look as if he had been on " the anxious seat," as he used to say, when things puzzled him.
" I have used up," said he, " plaguey nigh all the sheet iron, and old stove pipes, and mill- wheels, and trunnel-heads, in these parts; but I've succeeded; and for fear that some of these cute folks about here may have got a peep through the key-hole, and will trouble me when I come to get a patent, I've sent for you to be a witness; for you was the first and only man I ever hinted the notion to; in fact," continued he, " I think the most curious part of this invention is, that as yet I don't know any one about here who has been able to guess what I'm about. They all know it is an invention, of some kind, for that's my business you know; but some say it is a threshing machine, some a distillery; and of late they begin to think it is a shingle-splitter; but they'll sing another tune, when they see it spin- ning along past the stage coaches," added he, with a knowing chuckle, " won't they?"
This brought us to the door of an old clap- boarded, dingy, long, one-story building, with a window or two in the roof, the knot-holes and cracks all carefully stuffed with old rags, and over the door he was unlocking, was written, in bold letters, " No Admittance." This was his "sanctum sanctorum." I could occupy pages in description of it, for every part exhibited evi- dences.of its uses. The patent office at Wash- ington, like modern magazines, may exhibit fin- ished productions of inventive genius; but if we could look into the port-folios of their contribu- tors, in every quarter of the Union, and see there the sketches of half-finished essays, still-born poems, links and fragments of ideas and concep- tions, which " but breathed and died," we might form some notion of the accumulation of " 110- tions " that were presented to me, on entering the work-shop of Jabez Doolittle. But to my text again. " The First Locomotive." There it stood, occupying the centre of all previous conceptions, rat-traps, churns, apple-parers, pill- rollers, cooking stoves, and shingle-splitters, which hung or stood around it; or as my Lord Byron says, with reference to a more ancient but not more important invention:
"Where each conception was a heavenly guest, A ray of immortality, and stood
Star-like around, until they gathered to a God."
And there it stood. " the concentrated focus "
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of all previous rays of inventive genius, " The First Locomotive." An unpainted, unpolished, unadorned, oven-shaped mass, of double-riveted sheet-iron, with cranks, and pipes, and truunel- heads, and screws, and valves, all firmly braced on four strongly-made travelling wheels.
" It's a curious critter to look at," says Jabez, " but you'll like it better when you see it in mo- tion."
He was by this time igniting a quantity of charcoal, which he had stuffed under the boiler. " I filled the biler," says he, "arter I stopped working her yesterday, and it han't leaked a drop since, It will soon bile np; the coal's first rate."
Sure enough, the boiler soon gave evidence of " troubled waters," when, by pushing one slide, and pulling another, the whole machine, cranks and piston was in motion.
" It works slick, don't it?" said Jabez.
" But," I replied, "it don't move."
" You mean," said he, " the travelling-wheels don't move; well, I don't mean they shall, till I get my patent. You see," he added, crouching down, " that trunnel-head, there-that small cog wheel? Well, that's out of gear just yet; when I turn that into gear by this crank, it fits, you see, on the main travelling-wheel, and then the hull scrape will move, as nigh as I can calculate, a leetle slower than chain lightnin', and a darned leetle too! But it won't do to give it a try, before I get the patent. There is only one thing yet," he continued, " that I han't contrived-but that is a simple matter-and that is, the shortest mode of stoppin' on her. My first notion is to see how fast I can make her work, without smashing all to bits, and that's done by screwing down this upper valve; and I'll show you."
And with that he clambered up on the top, with a turning screw in one hand, and a can of soap-fat in the other, and commenced screwing down the valves, and oiling the piston-rod and crank-joints; and the motion of the mysterious mass increased, until all seemed a buz.
" It's nigh about perfection, ain't it?" says he. I stood amazed in contemplating the object be- fore me, which I confess I could not fully under- stand; and hence, with the greater readiness, per- mitted my mind to bear off to other matters more comprehensible; to the future, which is always more clear than the present, under similar cir- cumstances. I heeded not, for the very best reason in the world, because I understood not, the complicated description that Jabez was giving of his still more complicated invention. All 1 knew was, that here was a machine on four good sturdy well-braced wheels, and it only required a recorded patent, to authorise that small con- necting cog-wheel or trunnel-head to be thrown into gear, when it would move off, without oats, hay, or horse-shoes, and distance the mail-coach- es. As I was surrounded with notions, it was not extraordinary that one should take possession of me. It dawned upon me when I saw the ma- chine first put into motion, and was now fully orbed above the horizon of my desire; it was to see the first locomotive move off. The tempta- tion was irresistible. "And who knows," thought I, " but some prying scamp may have been peep- ing through the key-hole while Jabez was at work ; and, catching the idea, may be now at work on some clumsy imitation ?- and if he does not snc- ceed in turning the first trick, may divide the honours with my friend!"
"Jabez," said I, elevating my voice above the buzzing noise of the machine, " there is only one thing wanting."
" What is that?" says he, eagerly.
"Immortality," said I; "and you shall have it, patent or no patent!"
And with that, I pulled the crank that twisted the connecting trunnel-head into the travelling- wheels, and in an instant away went the machine, with Jabez on top of it, with the whiz and rapi- dity of a flushed partridge. The side of the old building presented the resistance of wet paper. One crash, and the " first locomotive" was ush- ered into this breathing world. I hurried to the opening, and had just time to clamber to the top ยท of a fence, to catch the last glimpse of my fast departing friend. True to his purpose, I saw him alternately screwing down the valves, and oiling the piston-rod and crank-joints; evidently deter- mined that, although he had started off a little unexpectedly, he would redeem the pledge he had given, which was that when it did go, it " would go a leetle slower than a streak of chain-light- nin', and a darned leetle too!"
" Like a cloud in the dim distance fleeting, Like an arrow" he flew away!
But a moment and he was here; in a moment he was there; and now where is he ?- or rather. where is he not? But that, for the present, is nei- ther here nor there.
The vile Moslem ridiculed the belief, so reli- giously cherished by the Christian Don, that in all the bloody contests that laid the cresecnt low in the dust, Saint Iago, on a white horse led on to battle and secured the triumph of the cross; but as this has now become matter of history, confirmed by the fact that on numerous occa- sions this identical warrior saint was distinctly seen "pounding the Moors," successfully and simultaneously in battle soenes remote from each other, thus proving his identity by saintly ubi- quity; so we may safely indulge the belief that the spirit, if not the actual body and bones of Ja- bez Doolittle, stands perched on every locomotive that may now be seen threading its way at the rate of thirty miles an hour, to the total annihi- lation of space and time. The incredulous like the Moors of old, may indulge their unbelief; but for myself, I never see a locomotive in full ac- tion, that I do not also see Jabez there, directing its course, as plainly as I see the immortal Clin- ton in every canal-boat, or the equally immortal Fulton in every steamboat.
Unfortunately, however, these, like Jabez Doo- little, started in their career of glory without a patent, trusting too far to an' ungrateful world . allu now the descendants of either may (if they pay their passage) indulge the luxury that the in- ventive spirit of their ancestors has secured to the age.
But my task is done. All I now ask, is that although some doubt and mystery hang over the first invention of a steamboat-in which doubt, however, I for one do not participate-none whatever may exist in regard to the origin of the locomotive branch of the great steam family; and that, in all future time, this fragment of authen- tic history may enable the latest posterity to re- trace, by " back track" and " turn out," through a long railroad line of illustrious ancestors, the first projector and contriver of " The First Loco- inotive," their immortal progenitor, "Jabez Doo- little, E'sq., nigh Wallingford, Connecticut."
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Disinterested Legatees.
About forty years ago, an old man of Scottish birth, who had realised a large fortune in Eng- land, and from time to time mnade purchases of landed property in his native country, died after a protracted life of miserable penury, leaving only collateral relations. These persons had fully expected to be benefited by their kinsman, so that their surprise was necessarily very great when they learned that lie had executed a con- veyance of his whole property to a legal practi- tioner of Aberdeen, who had been accustomed to manage it. It appeared that the old man, under the influence of mere crotchet, or some tempo- rary irritation, had resolved to disappoint them, at the same time that he enriched a man who had 110 natural claim upon his regard.
The relations had hardly recovered from the first sense of discomfiture, and the friends of Mr. C- had scarcely begun to congratulate him upon his good fortune, when he announced to the heirs that he had destroyed the deed, and that the property would consequently pass to them as if the deceased had been intestate. He had with reluctance, he said, consented to allow of the deed being drawn up, and only for the purpose of securing the property for the rightful heirs. These individuals consequently entered upon full pos- session of the old man's estates and effects. They pressed upon the agent's acceptance a gift of about six thousand pounds, in gratitude for his honourable conduct. It is pleasant to record that he is still living, and a considerable land proprie- tor in the district where he originally practised as a solicitor or agent.
More recently, a circumstance somewhat simi- lar took place. Two aged sisters were joint-pro- prietors of an estate in Perthshire. The elder was married and had a son; the other was unmarried. "The elder dying first, her share of the property wvas inherited by her son, then an officer in the Guards. The second lady having some ground- less dislike to this gentleman, bequeathed her share to a favourite nephew, far down in the fa- mily tree, and who had no expectation of such an inheritance. Finding, after the death of the old lady, how the property was destined, this gentle- man lost no time in writing to his cousin-a per- son, we may mention, with whom he was but slightly acquainted, for they had been living at a distance from each other, and were in totally dif- ferent walks in life-informing him that he could not for a moment think of taking advantage of such a will, but begged to surrender his right, without any reserve, into the hands of the heir- at-law. What added to the merit of this action, the legatee considered the whole matter as a pri- vate family affair, and said not a word about it to any beside the party principally concerned. It only became known in consequence of legal pro- ceedings for the transference of the property to the heir-at-law, an opinion from counsel having decided that it was best to proceed upon the will, instead of holding it as null, which was the wish of the legatee.
These examples of high conscientiousness will be admired by all. They are felt to be the nobler, that public opinion would not have greatly re- sented a more selfish procedure in either in- stance. The agent might have appropriated the estate of his client, to the preclusion of all natu- ral heirs, and still more might the junior cousin have sat quietly down in possession of his aunt's property, without forfeiting the esteem of society, seeing that they only did what the law allowed,
and what hundreds would have done in their case. We therefore unavoidably accord high praise to their conduct, which we see to have sprung en- tirely from a genuine integrity and unselfishness of nature. But, it may be asked, is this appro- bation of such conduct a good sign of the public morality? We fear not; for absolutely the course taken by these two men was precisely what ought to have been taken, and no more. Their conduct only shines by reason of our believing that most men would have acted differently. Let us fully admit, then, the relative merit, seeing that most men feel as if they were well cnough if they only act as their neighbours generally do, and any ex- ception from common selfishness argues a supe- rior nature. But still, also, let us understand that such actions ought not to be rare, nor their merit felt as calling for unusual notice or com- mendation.
Eclectic Medical Institute.
We have had for some time the rival Colleges, the Ohio Medical and the Botanico-Medical, and now it seems there is a third intended to combine the excellencies of both. Is there no end to hu- man calamity, that we should have a third set of doctors let loose on the community: We shall see here calomel and lobelia, blood letting and steam, harmoniously working side by side.
This seems to be got up to introduce a set of novi homines into practice. The Professors in the different departments are little known in the community at any rate.
Cassius M. Clay.
The public is, familiar with the fact that Mr. Clay's press has been received in this city, whith- er it was sent off by direction of the meeting which assembled at Lexington, for the purpose of getting rid of threatened difficulties. It was sup- posed that Mr. Clay, who was very ill at the time, could not survive. I learn, however, that he is on the recovery; and for myself I entertain no doubt that his first business act after arriving here, will be to set up the press in Covington, our neighbour city.
A Temperance Story.
Two young men, " with a humming in their heads," retired late at night to their room in a crowded inn; in which, as they enter, are reveal- ed two beds ; but the wind extinguishing the light, they both, instead of taking as they sup- posed, a bed a piece, got back to back into one, which begins to sink under them, and come around at intervals in a manner very circum- ambient, but quite impossible of explanation. Presently one observes to the other:
" I say, Tom, somebody's in my bed."
" Is there," says the other ; "so there is in mine, d-u him! Let's kick 'em out!"
The next remark was:
" Tom, I've kicked my man overboard."
" Good!" says his fellow toper, " better luck than I; my man has kicked me out-right on the floor!"
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The Pioneer Mothers.
It must not be infered from the narratives of Indian adventure usually published, that our Pio- neer Mothers were not exposed to equal dangers with their husbands. Many of them evinced a degree of active courage which would have doue honour to the sterner sex. Some of these cases occured in our own neighbourhood.
A family, consisting of the husband, the wife, and two children, one two years old, the other at the breast, occupied a solitary cabin in the neigh- bourhood of a block-house, where several other families resided, in the year 1789, near the Little Miami river in this state. Not long after the cabin was built the husband unfortunately died; and such was the grief and gloom of his widow, that she preferred to live alone, rather than min- gle with the inhabitants of the crowded block- house, where the noise and bustle would be ab- horrent to her feelings. In this solitary situation she passed several months. At night it was a common thing to see and hear the Indians around her habitation; and to secure her babes from the tomahawk, she resorted to the following precau- tion. Raising a puncheon of the floor, she dug a hole in the ground and prepared a bed, in which, after they had gone to sleep, she placed them side by side, and then restored the puncheon. When they awoke and required nourishment she raised it, and hushing them to sleep, returned them to their hiding place. In this way, to use her own words, she passed night after night, and week af- ter week, with the Indians and her babes, as the sole objects of her thoughts and vigils.
The following incident displays the female character under an aspect a little different, and shows that in emergencies it may sometimes rise above that of the other sex.
About the year 1790, several families, emigra- ting together into the interior of Kentucky, en- camped at the distance of a mile from a new set- tlement of five cabins. Before they had laid down, and were still sitting round the blazing brush, a party of Indians approached behind the trees and fired upon them. One man was killed on the spot, and another fled to the village, leaving be- hind him a young wife and infant child! As no danger had been apprehended, the men had not their ammunition at hand, and were so confused by the fire of the savages, that it was left for one of the mothers of the party to ascend into the wagon where it was deposited, break open the box with an axe, hand it out, and direct the men to return the fire of the enemy. This was done, and they dispersed.
The following narrative was communicated by John Rowan of Kentucky to Dr. Drake of our city, and is referred to by the doctor in an ad- dress which he delivered at Oxford, Ohio, in 1836.
"In the latter part of April, 1784, my father with his family, and five other families, set out from Louisville, in two flat-bottomed boats, for the Long Falls of Green river. The intention was to descend the Ohio river to the mouth of Green river, and ascend that river to the place of destination. At that time there were no settle- ments in Kentucky, within one hundred miles.of the Long Falls of Green river (afterwards called Vienna.) The families were in one boat and their cattle in the other. When we had descended the river Ohio about one hundred miles, and were near the middle of it, gliding along very securely, as we thought, about ten o'clock of the night, we heard a prodigious yelling, by Indians, some two or three miles below us, on the northern shore. We had floated but a little distance farther down the river, when we saw a number of fires on that shore. The yelling still continued, and we concluded they had captured a boat which had passed us about midday, and were massacreing their captives. Our two boats were lashed to- gether, and the best practicable arrangements made for defending them. The men were distri- buted by my father to the best advantage in case of an attack; they were seven in number includ- ing himself. The boats were neared to the Ken- tucky shore, with as little noise from the oars as possible. We were afraid to approach too near the Kentucky shore, lest there might be Indians on that shore also. We had not yet reached their uppermost fire (their fires were extended along the bank at intervals for half a mile or more), and we entertained a faint hope that we might slip by unperceived. But they discovered us when we had got about midway of their fires, and commanded us to come to. We were silent, for my father had given strict' orders that no one should utter any sound but that of his rifle; and not that until the Indians should come within powder burning distance. They united in a most terrific yell, and rushed to their canoes, and pur- sued us. We floated on in silence-not an oar was pulled. They approached us within less than a hundred yards, with a seeming determination to board us. Just at this moment my mother rose from her seat, collected the axes, and placed one by the side of each man, where he stood with his gun, touching him on the knee with the handle of the axe, as she leaned it up by him against the side of the boat, to let him know it was there, and retired to her seat, retaining a hatchet for herself. The Indians continued ho- vering on our rear, and yelling for near three miles, when, awed by the inferences which they drew from our silence, they relinquished farther pursuit. None but those who have had a prac- tical acquaintance with Indian warfare, can form a just idea of the terror which this hideous yell-
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ing is calculated to inspire. I was then about ten years old, and shall never forget the sensa- tions of that night; nor can I ever cease to ad- mire the fortitude and composure displayed by my mother on that trying occasion. We were saved, I have no doubt, by the judicious, system of conduct and defence, which my father had prescribed to our little band. We were seven men and three boys-but nine guns in all. They were more than a hundred. My mother, in speaking of it afterwards, in her calm way said we had made a providential escape, for which we ought to feel grateful."
Nearly two years afterwards another incident occurred at a fort on Green river, which displays the dangers which beset the emigrants of that period, and illustrates the magnanimity of the female character.
About twenty young persons, male and female, of the fort, had united in a flax pulling, in one of the most distant fields. In the course of the fore- noon two of their mothers made them a visit, and the younger took along her child, about eighteen months old. When the whole party were near the woods, one of the young women, who had climbed over the fence, was fired upon by several Indians concealed in the bushes, who at the same time raised the usual war-whoop. She was wounded, but retreated, as did the whole party; some running with her down the lane, which happened to open near that point, and others across the field. They were hotly pursued by the enemy, who continued to yell and fire upon them. The older of the two mothers who had gone out, recollecting in her flight, that the younger, a small and feeble woman, was bur- thened with her child, turned back in the face of the enemy, they firing and yelling hideously, took the child from its almost exhausted mother, and ran with it to the fort, a distance of three hundred yards. During the chase she was twice shot at with rifles, when the enemy were so near that the powder burned her, and one arrow pass- ed through her sleeve, but she escaped uninjured. The young woman who was wounded, almost reached the place of safety when she sunk, and her pursuer, who had the hardihood to attempt to sealp her, was killed by a bullet from the fort.
Our City Watch.
It is a common subject of newspaper notice, that in connection with a stabbing affray, a riot, or a fire, that there were none of the watch to be found. But persons forget the Irishman's excuse: " Plaze your honour, could I be like a bird in two places at wunst?" It is easy finding out where the watchmen are not; the following ineident will serve to show where they sometimes are.
Our well known and long respected fellow citizen, Robert Rands, alike for size and activity a terror to rogues, was formerly, perhaps is still a member of the night watch. Rands is or was a shoe-maker-a very appropriate occupation for the name -- and had lately invented a coating of India rubber for boots and shoes, calculated to render them impervious to the slush of winter, and rain of all weathers. As this was a desidera- tum to the watchmen, whose duty kept them out in the most inelement seasons, the article was in- . trodueed and patronised among Rands' associates on duty; but the great difficulty was that the coating would not dry, and continually caught up in walking, various undesirable substances.
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